tarf طرف
Algerian Darja · noun
“tarf” (طرف) is a noun in Algerian Darja meaning piece, bit.
Meanings
- piece, bit
- part, portion
- on behalf of, by (men tarf)
Usage
Tarf, often pronounced terf, means above all a piece or bit of something: tarf khobz, "a piece of bread", tarf lham, "a piece of meat". It is also used for a portion or part of a whole, and figuratively in tarf men lwaqt, "a while". The phrase men tarf, borrowed from Standard Arabic, means "on behalf of" or "by", for example in a passive sentence. The usual plural is trof or atraf. The concrete sense of "piece" is by far the most frequent in speech.
Example
عطيني طرف خبز برك.
a3tini tarf khobz berk.
“Just give me a piece of bread.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tarf” but also “terf”, “traf” and “tref”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “tarf” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “piece, bit”; “a little (of)”: tarf in Tunisian.